The Pilot Research Project Program for the University of Rochester's Center for Medical Countermeasures against Radiation (CMCR) is designed to identify and fund innovative pilot studies in radiation-related research, with an emphasis on the basic science supporting drug development to counter injuries that would result from a radiological dispersal device (RDD) or a nuclear detonation. These pilot projects are solicited from Institutions both within and outside of the CMCR Network through several approaches, including direct email solicitation and online announcement by the Radiafion Research Society (RRS) to its full membership, as well as announcement on both the UR CMCR website and the national NIH/NIAID/CMCR website. As an indication of the breadth of our announcement efforts and the diversity of applications we attract, over the course of the previous funding period the UR CMCR received a total of 74 applications from 32 institutions worldwide (including from Canada. China, France. Israel, and Japan).